Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours (316-8 November 397) was the third Bishop of Tours in France and the patron saint of soldiers, beggars, reformed alcoholics, and horses. He notably suppressed Roman paganism across Gaul by destroying several pagan temples and idols.

Biography
Martin was born in Savaria, Pannonia (now Szombathely, Hungary) in 316 AD, and he became a catechumen of the Christian Church at the age of ten and followed in his father's military footsteps by becoming a Roman Army cavalryman at the age of 15. Martin experienced a vision during his military service, in which he cut his cloak in half to clothe a scantily-clad beggar outside of Amiens; while dreaming that night, he heard Jesus' voice telling the angels that Martin had given him a half of his cloak, and, upon waking up, he found that his cloak had been restored to its fullness; Martin decided to be baptized at the age of 18. Martin became a conscientious objector, saying that he was the soldier of Christ, and that it was not lawful for him to fight. Martin volunteered to go unarmed in front of the troops, but the barbarians sued for peace before battle could be joined, and he was released from military service. He became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, establishing the Liguge monastery, and he became Bishop of Caesarodunum (Tours) in 371. As bishop, Martin suppressed paganism in Gaul. He was empowered by God to cast out demons and raise the dead, but his cutting down of a pine tree converted the masses. As Martin was chopping down a sacred tree near a pagan temple, aiming to drive out the resident demon, a crowd of pagans gathered and objected to his proceeding. After an angry exchange, one of the crowd offered to chop down the massive tree if Martin agreed to stand beneath it to see if he could avoid being crushed. Martin stood under the tree, and the pagans cut it down, but, before it could land on the saint, he made the sign of the cross and the tree fell in a different direction, almost flattening the pagans who were standing near him. It was agreed on that day that salvation came to the pagan regions, and almost every pagan was converted. Martin then travelled through several villages, destroying more pagan temples and performing more miracles. One day, he tore a sacred place down to its foundation, smashed its altars, and reduced its idols to dust while the pagan villagers were frozen in place by a divine power to prevent them from interfering with the destruction. Nearly all of them converted, forsaking the idols. Martin died in 397.